The lingering strike by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has taken an unnecessarily long period of time. I have not seen too many articles or noise being made about the strike however.
When ASUU was on strike, it was as though the whole of Nigerian students or parents would not sleep. Religious leaders, groups and individuals of influence had a lot to say about it as they pleaded with the government and ASUU to resolve their differences.
Articles were published nearly weekly in the newspapers on the industrial action that paralysed all public campus but it is not same with the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics’ strike. Isn’t it because we place more emphasis on Universities than their Polytechnic counterparts?
Since I woke up to consciousness of events that unfold in my environment, I have known long ago that there is a discrepancy, and in fact, greater preference for university graduates over their polytechnic counterparts especially in the labour market.
In an economy where we should be more concerned about productivity than paper qualification, it is a needless thing to consider a university graduate more employable than his polytechnic counterpart.
I have polytechnic graduates as senior colleagues and friends who know their onions. They are people who deliver on the job even perhaps better than some university graduates do. The treatment of polytechnic students by the government and the employers of labour calls for concern.
In Nigeria, education, especially tertiary education, has ceased to be a right long ago; it is a privilege. Therefore, to be a university or polytechnic student is sometimes a thing of chance. There are those who are in not in any and there are many too who pursued university admissions fervently but who ended up in polytechnics especially in a Nigeria where we have to fight for nearly everything.
The preference for university graduate as against their polytechnic mates by employers does not help matters. It is pivotal to point out that being a polytechnic student has not reduced anyone’s mental strength in any way and it will not do. As far as I am concerned, the dichotomy between a university and polytechnic graduates is an issue the government has not done enough to resolve.
On the current elongated strike embarked upon by polytechnic teachers, it is pitiable thing that the government has done little to convince parents and students that it has something tangible to offer. One’s heart aches whenever one reads the campaign promises of the current Federal Government concerning tertiary education.
It is totally unthinkable for tertiary institutions to be closed down for eight months due to an industrial action due to government’s neglect. The education sector is currently without a minister and recently, a group of new ministers were sworn in but it didn’t matter much to the Presidency that the education sector needs more than a supervising minister who has concentrated so much on resolving industrial actions.
He is doing his best, one must give him his credit, but we need a best that resolves issues. I do not like being critical of the government but I suppose important things ought to be catered for not only with urgency but also with genuine concerns.
The most affected group in any industrial action that affects the tertiary education institutions in Nigeria remains the students. Nigerian students (who are of the voting age) do not however know that there is a lot of power in their hands – particularly in their thumbs. The power they possess goes beyond taking to the streets to protest against unjust government actions and inactions.
It goes beyond carrying placards on the streets of Lagos or in a remote campus in any part of Nigeria. Statistically, the population of the Nigerian youth is staggering and when it comes to election, they have a big role to play. The youth of today can decide who should be their head through the power of voting.
If a government has taken us for a ride, it is also important to remember that we can choose to make such leaders return to the corridors of power or be kept from it. It is left with the youth and their parents to decide who leads them come 2015.
Anani Sunday
